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Target's
subscription services are about to explode, with the retailer
making a slew of products -- from tampons to coffee K-cups –
available for regular delivery.

Yesterday, the retail chain announced that it was increasing
Target Subscription services tenfold to include more than 1,500
products. Customers can choose how frequently they wish to
receive regular deliveries of an item, with the product being
shipped for free to their doorstep.

Target began testing subscription services last September,
when the chain launched the service for 150 baby-care basics.
Despite minimal marketing, the service quickly caught on, and now
accounts for more than 15 percent of online sales for eligible
items.

The success of the subscription model for baby-care items
encouraged Target to expedite plans to expand and add more
products, according to Target spokesperson Eddie Baeb.

"We're adding items that if you woke up at 6 in the morning, you
wouldn't want to run out of," says Baeb. That means toilet paper,
concealer and coffee will all be available.

The third grouping of new subscription items are those that
require regular, infrequent deliveries, like furnace filters and
Brita filters. In the words of Baeb, "the things you know you
should replace but you kind of forget."

With the huge growth of subscription service offerings, Target
takes another step to grow its online presence. In the fall, the
store began offering in-store pickup for online purchases,
removing the delivery middleman. As big box stores have struggled
to compete with online megabrands such as Amazon in ecommerce,
one of Target's biggest weapons can be offering a diversity of
sales options – in-store, online, subscription services, or a
mixture of the two.